Indoor Track wins eight meet titles on final day of Finn Pincus Invite

SALEM, Va. (January 20, 2024) – The Milligan University indoor track and field teams won eight meet titles on the final day of the Finn Pincus Invitational at Roanoke on Saturday.

"To line up against a host of DII and DIII teams from the region and pick up 11 wins and 18 top-three finishes says a lot about where this team is right now," said head coach Chris Layne. "I've said this a lot recently but love how they compete and how they care for and support one another - I think that's has a lot to do with their success right now."

The Buffs swept the top five finishers in the men's 1k with Will Stockley taking the win in 2:30.47 and hitting the NAIA "A" standard after conversion for track size. Sylas Chambers followed in second (2:33.59), Bryn Woodall was third (2:36.31), Roman Hodgson finished fourth (2:40.87) and Dillon Craig crossed fifth (2:43.37).

Milligan also took four of the top five spots in the women's 1k. Ellen-Mary Kearney ran the NAIA's No. 2 time of 2:58.50 and met the NAIA "A" standard before conversion. Caitlin Dominy's time of 3:03.42 was good for second and met the national qualifying standard post-conversion. Gracie Allen placed third in 3:05.49 and Kaelyn Slaughter finished fifth in 3:15.87.

Dominy claimed the meet title in the women's mile in 5:10.76. Her time converts to a national qualifying mark. Patricia Barrera finished third with a personal-best time of 5:21.03. Anna Jones also hit a PR (5:35.76) to finish eighth, McKenzie Fitzgerald (5:36.23) was ninth and Hannah Brown (5:43.03) placed 10th.

Aaron Jones ran to a runner-up finish in the mile in 4:15.99. His pre-conversion time ranks as a top-10 national mark and his converted time hits the automatic national qualifying standard. Zimri Kuhn finished 12th (4:33.60), Mitchell McCown was 13th (4:35.30) and Josh Hale crossed 15th (4:36.49).

Keith Fletcher hit a national standard and won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.31 seconds. Romario Taylor won the 60-meter dash in 6.90 seconds and the 200 in 22.15. Fletcher finished second in the 200 in 22.54. Hunter Crook was 14th with a PR of 23.57.

Stockley added another win in the 800 in 1:57.22. Arran Kearney finished fourth in 1:59.52 and Carter Windham was eighth in 2:02.88.

Ellen-Mary Kearney won the 800 in 2:20.32 with Gracie Allen crossing third in 2:26.40. Barerra (seventh, 2:29.73), Hope Krell (eighth, 2:30.81) and Fitzgerald (ninth, 2:30.82) gave Milligan five finishes in the event's top-10.

Hannah Manns set PBs in the triple jump (10.74 meters) and long jump (4.74 meters) to finish third and 10th in her respective events.

Corey Greeson finished 13th in the men's weight throw with a season-best toss of 13.41 meters. Kacey Webb was 14th in the women's weight throw with a top mark of 12.38 meters.

Tate Bowland finished third (16:02.47) and Joshua Starr was seventh (16:51.27) in the men's 5k.

Milligan placed second in the men's 4x200 relay with Taylor, Evan Hays, Hunter Crook and Jeremy Evans finishing in 1:32.87.

"The sprint crew came back again today and had a really strong showing winning the men's 60, 60H and 200," said Layne. "Hannah Manns did a nice job in the triple, and I'm really proud of how our distance folks competed. By design, a few of them had tight turnarounds and they handled that really well."

The Buffs head to the Camel City Invitational at the JDL Fast Track next weekend.